1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a stand assist apparatus. More particularly, the present invention concerns a stand assist apparatus for facilitating the standing up from a seated position or, alternatively, sitting down from a standing position. Even more particularly, the present invention concerns a stand assist apparatus positionable around an armless seat, such as a toilet or chair.
2. Description of Related Art
While the act of standing up and/or sitting down may not be difficult for most, elderly people or other non-fully ambulatory people, such as those recovering from an injury or surgery find standing and sitting to be a painful task. The danger of standing and sitting down for these people may result in either falling or incurring further injury from excess strain on their back and/or legs, thereby delaying recovery or further aggravating an existing injury.
Those experiencing difficulty in standing or sitting find it even more problematic where the seat fails to include armrests to support oneself. These seats commonly include smaller chairs, stools, toilets, and the like. Without the use of armrests, the person has nothing to support his or her weight on and must rely exclusively on leg strength.
The related art has addressed this situation by proposing a number of solutions including standard walkers and other devices that can be situated around an armless seat. While walkers are not specifically designed to assist one in standing up or being seated, they, therefore, cannot be properly adjusted based on the size of the chair with which the walker is being used with or the size of the person using the walker.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,354 to Alexander teaches an orthopedic walker having a rear crossbar interconnecting a pair of side frames. This is the standard construction of most walkers. This construction, having only a single crossbar, allows one to extend his or her legs between the side frames while walking. Although each of the side frames in Alexander has an adjustable height, the length of the crossbar is not adjustable and, therefore, the width of the walker cannot be adjusted for those requiring a smaller or larger width based on the size of the chair or the user.
Other walkers, or similarly structured devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,607,926, 2,773,542, 2,796,916, 3,011,179, 5,347,666, 5,950,258, and 6,170,501.
Each of the above devices are directed toward either assisting one in standing up from a seated position or, once in a standing position, walking about with ease. Nonetheless, the devices fail to include an adjustable crossbar providing the ability to adjust the width based on the size of the seat and/or the person using the device. Because of this deficiency, a user attempting to stand or sit is forced to position his or her hands either further apart from or closer to one another at a distance that may not be ideal for his or her specific body type. Additionally, because the width is not adjustable, these devices are limited to only being used on seats that fit between the side frames and no wider.
While the related art does disclose stand assist devices providing an adjustable width, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,995,412 and 7,373,942, and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2011/0232665 and 2015/0224004, these devices are severely limited in the manner in which they fold, if at all.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,412 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0224004 fail to teach a device that folds at all. Due to their widths being adjustable and having varying dimensions, the devices only fold once completely dismantled.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,373,942 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0232665 each teach a device having an adjustable width that does not prevent the device from folding. While each of the devices taught therein includes at least one lockable crossbar interconnecting a pair of side frames on one side of the device, in order to fold the devices, the side frames are rotated inwardly toward the crossbar to provide a trifold and create a substantially flattened device. The downfall in these devices is that, despite the side frames being locked in place with the at least one crossbar prior to folding, pressure applied to the side frames while standing up or being seated may cause inadvertent rotation since there is no crossbar at the opposite end of the side frames.
Therefore, while each of the devices disclosed in the above references are suitable for the uses and problems they intend to solve, there is an ongoing need for improvements in a stand assist apparatus, such as one that includes an adjustable width to be situated around various sized seats and provides sufficient support without limiting the ability of the device to be folded.
It is to this to which the present invention is directed.
The above references are identified herein in recognition of a duty of disclosure of known related subject matter, which may be relevant under 37 CFR 1.56, and specifically incorporated, herein by reference as regards to the conventional approaches and constructions taught therein.